1. Isaac Prilleltensky
Community Psychology Foundations: Justice, Well-Being, and SPEC

2. Intuition: justice must surely play a role in well-being
Fact and Intuition
Intuition: justice must surely play a role in well-being
Fact: not many psychologists studying well-being share my intuition
when I look at the burgeoning psychological literature on well-being, I am struck by an intuition and by a fact. The intuition (click here) is that justice must surely play a role in well-being, and the fact (click here) is that not many psychologists studying well-being share my intuition. If they do, they must be very shy, for it is very hard to find psychologists who make explicit the link between justice and subjective well-being. My job as a social scientist is to make sure that my hunch is based on evidence and not dogma. My job as a citizen is to speak up.

3. JUSTICE AND WELL-BEING
Part I
JUSTICE AND WELL-BEING

4. Justice “To each his or her due” (Miller, 1999)
“Justice means giving people what they deserve, giving each person his or her due” (Sandel, 2009)
Question:
How do we ascertain what is due a person?
Merit?
Need?
Equality?

5. Josh and John
Similar background, same school, SES, caring families, great opportunities
Different behavior:
John works hard and gets good grades in high school
Josh plays a lot on the computer and does not work hard
Who deserves a scholarship?
Based on merit, and equality of conditions, John wins

6. Jill and Jane
Same IQ, both worked very hard in school, but they had very different backgrounds
Jane enjoyed great privilege
Jill suffered from great disadvantage
Who deserves a scholarship?
Do conditions matter in decision?
Of course they do!

7. The role of context
context should determine what criterion or criteria must be preferred in each case
In social conditions of inequality, we must accord preference to needs over merit and ability

8. Context of Relative Equality
Under conditions of relative equality, where the gap between classes is not very pronounced, it is possible to favor merit and effort over needs.

9. Context of Plenty of Opportunities
In a context of plenty of opportunities for everyone, it is possible that ability and effort will be the preferred choice.

10. Justice Out of Context
Societies aspiring to justice must seek equilibrium among all criteria
When context of inequality calls for need and equality, but culture favors effort, it’s because privileged groups benefit.
As a result, group interests that influence the choice of allocation pattern often disregard the context- specific situation.

11. Justice and Well-Being
Allocation of outcomes
The What of Justice
Process of making decisions
The How of Justice

12. Justice and Well-Being

13. Justice and Well-Being

14. Justice and Well-Being

15. Part II
PARADIGMS

16. From DRAIN to SPEC Deficits Reactive Arrogance Individual blame
Strengths
Prevention
Empowerment
Community Change
Of all the social lies about well-being, four are especially bad: that we can improve wellness by pathologizing people, by being reactive and arrogant, and by blaming people for their problems. I call this the DRAIN approach; it sucks energy out of people. To overcome these problems, I recommend the SPEC approach: strengths, prevention, empowerment, and community change.

17. Strengths
This is Muhamad Yunus, He won the Nobel Peace Prize for demonstrating that the poor are not lazy and that they can be trusted when given loans. Yunus built on women’s strengths in Bangladesh and created the Grameen bank, which gives micro loans to poor peasants to start their own business. He lifted millions out of poverty.

18. Prevention
Let me share with you a story about prevention now. In 1854 there was a cholera epidemic in London. People were dying by the hundreds and nobody knew what to do. Out of desperation, city officials called on this man, Dr. John Snow. Snow said that he didn’t know how to cure cholera either, but that perhaps there was something he could do to prevent it. Through detective work, he figured out that people were dying because they were drinking contaminated water from this pump (click), so on September 7th, 1854, he ordered city officials to remove the handle from the Broad Street Pump and he stopped the cholera epidemic. I so love this story that every time I go to London I have my picture taken next to the pump (click). What did we learn from John Snow?

19. “No mass disorder, afflicting humankind, has ever been eliminated, or brought under control, by treating the affected individual”
Read slide. Even if Snow knew how to cure cholera, there would never be enough of him to go around. Physical, emotional, and social problems like HIV AIDs, child abuse or teen pregnancy are never eliminated one person at a time. Prevention is the only answer

20. Prevention saves money
For every $1 invested in prevention, we get up to $17 in return, but we invest only 3% of our budget on prevention.
The good news is that for every dollar invested in prevention, we get up to $ 17 in return. The bad news is that in the US we invest only about 3% of our budget on prevention. About 97% of the money goes to contain diseases, not to prevent them.
When governments tell you they take prevention seriously, ask them to show you their budget.

21. From Dennis Winters, Sept. 2007 http://www. partnershipforsuccess
Prilleltensky
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Prilleltensky

22. From Cunha and Heckman, 2007
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23. From Cunha and Heckman, 2007
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24. PREVENTION: Determinants of Health (by percent contribution)
McGinnis et. al., 2002

25. US Spending on Health
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and U.S. Bureau of the Census.

26. Better Beginnings, Better Futures: Goals
Prevention
To reduce the incidence of serious, long-term emotional and
behavioral problems in children living in high risk neighborhoods
Promotion
To promote the optimal social, emotional, behavioral, physical and educational development in children
Community Development
To strengthen the ability of disadvantaged communities to respond effectively to the social and economic needs of children and their families
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27. Better Beginnings, Better Futures: Outcomes
Significant positive impacts on teacher ratings of child behavior problems
Significant positive impacts on parent ratings of child behavior problems
Significant positive impacts on teachers and parent ratings of prosocial child behavior
At Grade 6, parents’ ratings of prosocial behavior and teacher ratings of self-control were significantly higher for Better Beginnings children and teacher ratings of hyperactivity-inattention were significantly lower
Prilleltensky
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Prilleltensky

28. Empowerment

29. Empowerment can be a tool for social change and personal healing at the same time
Read slide, then say: Empowerment cannot only promote social change, but also a sense of personal control, which is crucial to well-being.

30. Community Change
OK, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking Isaac loves to go to Europe to have his picture taken. Well, that is true, but only for educational reasons. Now, where is this picture? Correct, it’s Venice. What’s the problem with Venice? Right, it’s sinking. What’s the lesson from Venice?

31. If Venice “is slowly being submerged, individual citizens cannot afford to ignore their collective fate, because, in the end, they all drown together if nothing is done.” (Badcock, 1982)

32. Time and place of interventions
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO BE
Collective
Quadrant IV
Examples:
Food banks, shelters for homeless people, charities, prison industrial complex
Quadrant I
Examples:
Community development, affordable housing policy, recreational opportunities, high quality schools and accessible health services
Reactive
Proactive
Quadrant II
Examples:
Skill building, emotional literacy, fitness programs, personal improvement plans, resistance to peer pressure in drug and alcohol use
Quadrant III
Examples:
Crisis work, therapy, medications, symptom containment, case management
Individual
THIS IS WHERE WE ARE

33. Focus and engagement in interventions
THIS IS WHERE WE NEED TO BE
Strength
Quadrant I
Examples:
Voice and choice in celebrating and building competencies, recognition of personal and collective resilience
Quadrant IV
Examples:
Just say no! You can do it! Cheerleading approaches, Make nice approaches
Detachment
Empowerment
Quadrant II
Examples:
Voice and choice in deficit reduction approaches, participation in decisions how to treat affective disorders or physical disorders
Quadrant III
Examples:
Labeling and diagnosis, “patienthood” and clienthood,” citizens in passive role
Deficit
THIS IS WHERE WE ARE

34. Part III
PRACTICE

35. STRENGTHS FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
Celebrate talent, initiative, motivation, small wins
Avoid deficit oriented labels
FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
Build on assets, achievements, engagement, motivation
Reduce stereotyping, gossiping, put downs, segregation
FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
Identify community assets, natural leaders, build respect
Do not engage in stereotypical thinking

36. PREVENTION AND PROMOTION
FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
Prevent stress, minimize risk factors, take small steps
Promote engagement, meaning making, social support
FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
Prevent burnout, fear, repetition, alienation
Promote engagement, reflection, and support
FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
Prevent drop out, child abuse, injustice, poverty
Promote equality, universal health care, high quality education

37. EMPOWERMENT FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
Sense of control over your life
Voice and choice
FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
Democratic participation
Employee engagement and decision making
FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
Name source of injustice, organize, lead
Identify power inequalities, not blaming community

38. COMMUNITY CHANGE FOR PERSONAL WELL BEING (your own and others)
Volunteer, participate, vote
Organize, analyze
FOR ORGANIZATIONAL WELL BEING
Meaning making,
Participation in social change
FOR COMMUNITY WELL BEING
Discover ecological roots of problems
Think and act systemically and sustainably

39. Organizations with a Strength-based orientation
Perceive recipients of services and community members as having strengths
Recognize that service recipients learn to cope with difficult situations and develop resilience
Identify and build on individual and community assets, resilience, and ability to thrive in difficult situations

40. Organizations with a prevention orientation
Work to prevent problems before they occur
Identify and reduce risk factors and promote protective factors in individuals, families, and communities.
Take action to decrease the chances that a particular problem will affect a person, group, or an entire community

41. Organizations with an empowerment orientation
Believe community members should have voice and choice in issues and decisions that affect their lives
Aim to increase the power of individuals, groups, and entire communities
Encourage the sharing of decision-making power and control over resources with community members

42. Organizations with a community-change orientation
Believe that some of the problems that individuals and entire communities face result from community and living conditions
Remove barriers to services and supports
Work to address the root causes of the problems people and communities face
Promote social policies that enhance wellbeing and people’s ability to thrive
Create new systems or structures that enhance citizen participation and wellbeing

43. Amelioration vs. Transformation
Population health
Public education
Prevent epidemics
Provide basic necessities
Improve services
Transformation
Support full employment
Eliminate poverty
Universal health insurance
Universal family support
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Prilleltensky

44. Amelioration vs. Transformation
Demand more services
Increased participation in local politics
Funds for charity, research, and demonstration projects
Transformation
Fight exploitation
Sustainable communities
Promote culture of equity
Raise consciousness about inequality
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45. Applications in Counseling and Therapy

46. Applications in Policies

47. Application in Programs

48. Skills for Agents of Change
I VALUE IT
Inclusive host
Visionary
Asset seeker
Listener and sense maker
Unique solution finder
Evaluator
Implementer
Trendsetter

49. FALSE The best way to eliminate disease is through effective treatment
True or False
The best way to eliminate disease is through effective treatment
FALSE
Now, given that I’m a professor, we have to conclude with a quiz. True or false? The best way to eliminate disease is through effective treatment. What do you think? False, the best way is through prevention

51. THANK YOU VERY MUCH